Stone cocoons dating back more than 6,000 years were discovered at the Shicun site in Xia County, Shanxi Province
During the recently concluded 2022 archaeological excavation site evaluation activity at the Shicun site in Xiaxian County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, Jilin University, Fang Qi, the person in charge of the archaeological excavation project and deputy dean of the School of Archeology of Jilin University, introduced that in 2022 The project team unearthed two stone cocoons from the early Yangshao Culture, more than 6,000 years ago.
Since 2019, the School of Archeology of Jilin University, the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology, and the Yuncheng Cultural Relics Protection Center have jointly conducted investigations and excavations at the Shicun site in Xiaxian County, Yuncheng. Six stone-carved silkworm chrysalis and earthenware silkworm chrysalis have been unearthed. 1, 2 stone silkworm cocoons, and the unearthed stone silkworm chrysalis and other important discoveries have attracted widespread attention in related fields.
“There has been a legend about Leizu raising silkworms in the Yuncheng area since ancient times, and there is also a record of Leizu’s silkworm rearing in the “Historical Records” of the Yellow Emperor’s concubine.” Fang Qi said, “The discovery of stone silkworm cocoons and stone-carved silkworm pupae jointly revealed more than 6,000 years of history. In ancient times, in the Yuncheng Basin, the core area where Chinese civilization originated, silkworms played an important role in the production and life of ancestors. This provides important clues for studying the origins of silkworm-raising and silk-reeling technology in ancient China.”
During the evaluation activity, the team also showed another discovery: Since 2019, many “stone balls” have been discovered in the archaeological excavations of the Shicun site, which are initially judged to be projectile-like artifacts made and used by ancestors during hunting. .
“In 2022, we also found a lot of steamed bun-shaped but very small ‘stone balls’, which are very similar in shape to silkworm eggs. We analyzed that these ‘stone balls’ shaped like silkworm eggs were probably the result of people’s understanding of the silkworm eggs at that time. The life of silkworms is full of interest and reverence, and they are deliberately processed.” Combining key discoveries such as stone-carved silkworm chrysalises, stone-made silkworm cocoons, and “stone ball” silkworm eggs, as well as the main excavation results and unearthed relics of the site in 2022, Fang Qi Hypotheses were put forward about the settlement nature and function of the Shicun site.
Fang Qi believes that in the four years since the excavation work began at the Shicun site, Jiji teachers and students have excavated a total area of more than 6,000 square meters. The discovered residential and living facilities such as house sites and ash pits, as well as agricultural tools, cooking utensils and other production and living utensils are relatively large. The scale of the excavation is not sufficient, and the traces of the ancestors’ diet and other life are not rich enough. It is probably not a living settlement in the traditional sense, but a primitive settlement located next to a large living settlement that specializes in sericulture and silk reeling. Handicraft workshop area.
After the Spring Festival this year, the archaeological workers of the project team have completed the collection of cultural relics, surface surveys and related exploration work at the Yuancun site surrounding the Shicun site, and determined the focus of work and the scope of archaeological excavation in 2023. “Is the Yuancun site covering an area of 1.8 million square meters the large-scale living settlement next to the Shicun site? Is there a division of production or even trade between the two settlements?” Fang Qi is full of expectations for the archaeological excavations in the new year. .
The reporter also learned from Jilin University that in 2022, Jilin teachers and students excavated a total of 6 house sites, more than 600 ash pits, 3 ash ditches, 2 ash piles, 10 tombs, and urn coffins at the Shicun site. 8 buildings, 3 kiln sites, and more than 20 pillar holes. In addition to a large number of fragments of corded gray pottery, muddy gray pottery and painted pottery, there are more than 40 pieces of complete or recoverable pottery and porcelain. In addition, there are 129 pieces of pottery production and daily utensils, 106 stone production tools and daily utensils, 19 jade products, 67 bone and clam ware, and 13 metal products. The remains obtained can be roughly distributed in the early and middle Yangshao era, as well as the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Han Dynasty and other periods. Among them, the early remains of Yangshao are the early settlement sites of the Yangshao period that have been excavated in recent years and are closest to the ancient salt pond. In terms of archaeological cultural genealogy, they are important for studying the process of the early Neolithic remains of Yangshao in southern Shanxi entering the “Xiyin culture” Enlightenment.
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